On Friday 30th November, the Sixth Form were treated to the annual Question Time event during which they were able to quiz a panel of politicians and political activists about current affairs. This year’s panel was made up of the Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP (the Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield and former member of the cabinet as Chief Whip and Secretary of State for International Development), Labour Councillor Liz Clements, Lee Dargue (Lib Dem Health Spokesperson for the West Midlands) and the Green Party Candidate for Edgbaston, Phil Simpson. The panel also featured Nick Hillman (Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute), who returned to chair the event.
The panel were thrown straight in at the deep end, with tough questions regarding their views on the topic on everyone’s minds, Brexit, and the potential for a People’s Vote. This led onto discussions about changing the UK’s voting system from the current first past the post system to a more representative one, and about lowering the voting age to 16. It was suggested that the voting age be capped at 70, which triggered laughs from the audience and panel as this would mean one panellist would be too old to vote! Other lively debates arose from discussions on homelessness in Birmingham and the decline in mental health provision in universities. Overall the event was a great success, and our panellists appreciated the engagement of the audience. A huge thank you to all of our panellists and Chairperson, and to Mr Jarvis for organising the afternoon.
